A Buyer's Guide to Milk Alternatives

Don't have a cow: milk can come from many sources.

Nine out of 10 glasses of milk consumed in the United States come from cows, but increasingly, Americans are “milking” other options. For instance, sales of goat’s milk more than doubled from 2003 to 2007 and the demand for “alterna-milks” (made from soy, rice, almond and even hemp) is at an all-time high. Though you may drink these plant-based milks in place of what Elsie produces, “Technically, these drinks aren’t really milk,” says Catherine W. Donnelly, Ph.D., of the University of Vermont. “Milk is a secretion from mammary glands and plants don’t have mammary glands.” What’s more, plant-based milks don’t contain lactose, the sugar found in milk, and with the exception of almond milk, they naturally contain only negligible amounts of calcium. And, though many are fortified with calcium and vitamin D, they may not be as nutritious.

“You often don’t absorb as much of the nutrients as you do from cow’s milk,” says Robert Heaney, M.D., professor of medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He notes that compounds in soymilk called phytates may bind calcium, making it less available to the body.

Still, for people who cannot tolerate or choose not to consume cow’s milk (as well as for those who just want to shake things up), plant-based milks are healthful options that often provide unique benefits of their own. Read more in our milk comparison chart and tasting.